"Ladies and gentlemen! It is my privilege to present to you this year's graduating class of Lake Logan High School!"

As the entire auditorium echoed with cheers and applause, I sat back in my metal folding chair and grinned. He had said it. Old Mr. Baldetti had actually said the words I had been waiting to hear everyday since stepping foot inside of Lake Logan High. I, Cassandra Grace, was officially a graduate. My life is finally about to begin.

Of course, I had to get through the summer first, but that was all planned out. I had already signed up twice as many riding students as I normally did, hoping to earn extra money I would need to enter the novice jumper competition at the county fair, which was held at the end of August. Then, when I won that, I would have a $20,000 grand prize in my bank account when I start at the University of Vermont in the fall. The money would be used for food, books, and fun. With all of the work and training I was planning on doing, the summer would just fly by. Yes, I had a plan. Cassie Grace always has a plan.

"We did it!" my best friend, Donna Policastro, shouted as everyone shot their mortarboards in the air, then ducked and covered as they rained back down. She climbed over crouching bodies and wove around groups of hugging friends to throw her arms around my neck. "We did it! We graduated!"

"We are so out of here!" I exclaimed.

"Sayonara Lake Logan High!"

Donna's round face beamed and her blue eyes were round with excitement. Her red curly hair stuck out in all direction, bobby pins hanging out at the oddest angles where she had torn off her cap.

"Adios, small town U.S.A.!" I returned.

Donna's twin brother, Derek, walked up behind her and smirked. His freckles glowed underneath the stage lights and his thick red hair had been flatted above his ears, then stuck out straight around the base of his neck. Total cap hair.

"Watch out world, the psychos are coming," he said dryly.

"Oh my gosh, you are so funny!" Donna replied sarcastically, turning to him. "Why don't you take that act on the road? Like, tonight. Really. It's time for you to go."

"Shut up loser," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Congrats."

She hugged him back, closing her eyes and smiling. "You too."

The Policastro twins may have talked a big game, but deep down, they totally love each other. And me. We had been an inseparable threesome ever since kindergarten when Rhonda Sickle,a horrible buck-toothed first grader, had stolen my bike on the playground and the twins had thrown pine cones at her until she gave it back. Probably the most exhilarating moment of my life. Yeah, we don't get a lot of excitement around Lake Logan, New York. Tons of Canadian geese every spring and fall, but not much excitement.

That was why I am so excited to be graduating. Don't get me wrong, I love my little town, and (almost) all of the people in it. I love being able to ride my horse, Lola, wherever I want and not have to worry about being blindsided by a big rig.

 I love long evening strolls down by the lake in the summer. I love that almost everyone grows their own tomatoes and corn and that the older ladies in town are constantly bickering over who makes the better raspberry jam. But I knew there was a lot more to life than just Lake Logan. And I was kind of dying to find out what was out there. 

That, and I couldn't wait to be living in a place where every resident had witnessed my bikini top coming off in the lake at the July Fourth celebration when I was thirteen, a humiliation that was brought up far too often by way too many people. 

Okay, so UVM wasn't in the middle of a bustling metropolis, but at least it was new. And they had stables, so I would be able to bring Lola. Donna was getting out too- heading for Rutgers University in New Jersey, while Derek would be sticking close to home at Binghamton.

The graduates around us started to break up, heading to their families. Flashes popped and somewhere someone squealed with delight.

"Oh, no way Alison Thomas's parents just gave her a car," Derek said.

"You're kidding me."

I looked across the auditorium and sure enough, Alison, already having shed her shapeless black gown to expose the mini dress underneath. She was waving a key of some kind in the air and gripping her father around the neck as her mother took pictures. Alison was the richest kid in our class. The only rich kid, actually. She was also the most... friendly, if you know what I mean.

"Here comes Dino," Derek says.

"Look away before the saliva starts spraying," Donna deadpanned.

But I couldn't. It was like watching a train wreck. Dino Anderson walked right up to Alison and stuck his tongue right down Alison's throat right in front of her parents. Yuck. She squealed with delight as he dipped her backwards. Her parents actually laughed. Double yuck.

"There is one sight I am not going to miss," I said.

Although inside, I actually felt a twinge of sorrow and maybe a smattering of jealousy. Here I was, eighteen years old and a high school graduate, and I had yet to be kissed. I guess that is what happens when you only have sixty boys in your class to choose from and you had endured through their awkward phases right along with them. It was kind of hard to get all hot and bothered about someone when you had seen them pee their pants in the third Grade like Linus Kaplan, or dig at his chicken pox scabs incessantly all the way through geometry class like Danny Figis. Yeah, the pickins were slim.

"Cassie! Cassie!Over here!"

I smiled when I saw my mom waving at me maniacally while my dad held up the ages old video camera up to his eye. Since I'm an only child, this was pretty much the most exciting event in my parents' lives. I lifted my diploma and waved in return.

"Come down here and let us get a picture of you three together!" My mom called.

"You got it Mrs. Grace," Derek said loping down the stairs.

As he always did when it came time to pose, Derek got in between me and Donna to keep things Symmetrical. My mother squinted at her phone holding at full arms length away from her face. The woman should have never tried to master new technology. Every picture she tried to take either sliced off someones head or took the person at the end completely out of frame.

The flash went off and we broke apart as Donna and Derek's parents joined us. Donna went to hug her dad while Derek went to hug their mom.

"We're so proud of you sweet heart," my mom said kissing my forehead and tucking a piece of my blonde wavy hair behind my ear. I looked back into the green eyes that were exactly like my own and smiled. Inside, I actually felt some tears welling up.

"Thanks mom."

"And the program says you graduated with honors," my father interrupted, holding the camera down at his side now. "Why didn't you tell us that?"

I shrugged happily. "Thought it would be a nice surprise."

"it sure was Cass." He pulled me to his side in a half hug and squeezed. As always, I was dwarfed by my six foot four dad, my head hitting him where his arm met my side. With his square jaw, stubble, and omnipresent cowboy hat, my dad was the picture of a cow boy.

"Come one everyone! Let's hit the Lake!" Michael shouted, earning a round of whoops and hollers from the graduates dotted around the room. He swung his big beefy arm in the air and led the charge of the jocks up to the back door.

"I guess we're going," I said.

Every year the graduating class camped out on the beach on Lake Logan on graduation night. No underclassmen whatsoever were allowed and everyone brought coolers full of drinks and food, then circulated from tent to tent, sharing everything. There were always rumors about chug lines, drug experimentation, and random hook-ups, but no one knew for sure what went on since none of us had ever actually been to one. I was pretty much dying to experience it first hand.

"Alright. But don't get home too late," my dad said.

"Dad, its an all nighter for a reason," I said teasingly.

He clucked his tongue. "You're the one who wanted to take on more responsibilities this summer," he reminded me. "You've got Shelby Shahanian coming to the ranch at nine a.m. tomorrow for her first lesson."

"I know this dad. And I'll be there," I told him. "But this is one Lake Logan ritual I'm not passing up."

He eyed me dubiously, then nodded. "All right, but be good."

I rolled my eyes. "I will be." Couldn't he see that I wasn't a little kid anymore?

"No drinking, no smoking, no.... no anything else," my mom said with a little shudder. Just then Derek, Donna, and their parents rejoined us for the stroll back up the aisle.

"Come one Mrs. Grace, it can't be that bad," Donna cajoled. "Sheriff Griffin and Deputy Doright check in all of the time. They've never shut it down."

"All right," my mom said giving me another squeeze. "Have fun."

"You'll keep and eye on my little girl, right Derek?" my dad said slapping him on the back so hard he almost took a header into row G.

"You bet Mr. Grace," he said, coughing as he regained his footing.

I groaned as Donna slung her arm over my shoulder and we followed them up the aisle.

"Hey! It's only a couple more months and then you'll be making your own rules," Donna whispered to me.

My grimace changed into a grin and I hugged her close to my side as we walked. She always knew exactly what to say to cheer me up.

* * *

I never know how to start my books, but this one it just came too me.

I really hope y'all liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it.

Please tell me what you think of the characters so far, and your opinions overall. And let me know if y'all want the word count, I will be more than happy to put it up.

Also, do y'all want to see what the main characters look like or just leave it to the imagination, lmk!!!!

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